“I think enough is enough. It’s time to let these animals alone”: Tonight’s Prime Time at 9.35pm on RTÉ One focuses on the blasting to death of deer and shameful calls for a cruel cull of protected seals.

Among those featured on the “Into the Wild” report by Conor McMorrow and Aaron Heffernan will be:

– Dr Ian Donohoe, an Assistant Professor of Zoology at Trinity College Dublin – “We have to know how many animals there are, where the animals are, what sort of animals we might need to cull to best achieve management goals. In the absence of that, culling is simply wrong.”

– Animal rights activist John Carmody – Deer should not be killed, since “all animals are sentient beings.” “They are like our dog or cats. They can experience fear and suffering. I think enough is enough. It’s time to let these animals alone,” he said. He added that these animals are living happily in their environment, and that people would be shocked to learn that deer are being gunned down in their natural habitats.

– Johnny Woodlock, from the Irish Seal Sanctuary, who opposes the culling of seals. He suggests seals could be sterilised by delivering a contraceptive drug through darts fired at them. This would help manage seal populations without actually killing seals, he said.

– Environmentalist Saoirse McHugh who points out that Irish waters have been “overfished” for decades and states that she opposes the culling of seals.

– Joe Hayden, a farmer in South Wicklow who supplies cow’s milk to Baileys Irish Cream liquor – “he believes there is an over-population of Sika deer”.

– Environmentalist and broadcaster Éanna Ní Lamhna who “cautions against anthropomorphology – the notion that, because certain animals look cute and nice, they should be allowed to live”.

Responding to a Dail Question last month, Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan (Green Party) admitted that shooters are allowed to kill tens of thousands of deer every year despite the fact that “no national census of deer populations has been carried out to date”. He said that his Department carries out localised annual deer counts on State lands such as National Parks and “the indications” are that deer are increasing in numbers.

He revealed that the number of deer shot dead in Ireland ever year has risen from around 10,000 in 2000 to over 30,000 in 2010. The killing has continued to increase, with 40,000 deer gunned down in the 2017/2018 shooting season.

Read more at https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2021/0608/1226923-deer-seal-culling-overpopulation/

Watch Prime Time tonight at 9.35pm on RTÉ One or on the RTÉ Player at https://www.rte.ie/player/